The following 9 ideas have helped me and will help you grow your business on a limited budget when you apply them.

1. If you don’t have a journal, I would suggest that you purchase one at your local Staples.  If not grab a sheet of paper.  It doesn’t matter what your business is, write down this question at the top of a sheet: ”How can I personally make my clients’ lives better?” 

   This is a very powerful question.  Think about it.   How many companies you know of, both offline or online, apply this model?

   Most of them are out to get the sale and then move on to the next “prospect.”  Can you imagine how effective they could be if they actually considered how they could help your life be better.

   For instance, I spend a lot on educational material for my grandchildren, and I never hear from the businesses after I make my purchases.  If they remembered the above quote and thought about how they could help me and my grandchildren have a better life, they would realize that they could offer me products to help us, and probably offer them on a monthly basis.

   I’m sure you’ve experienced this at some point in your life.  Think about how this applies to your business and what you can do.

2. Create your Stadium Pitch.  Someone once told me, “What would you say to a group of 50,000 people if they were in a stadium and you had 30-60 seconds to convince them about your offering?” How can you get your point across so convincingly that they would feel like idiots to say “no”?  

   Plus, consider the fact that any one of them can leave at anytime during your pitch.  Would your message change?  What can you say to make them stay?  What can you say to make them buy?  Some call this an elevator speech.

   Keep refining your stadium pitch (elevator pitch).  A great one can help you generate many new customers on a limited marketing budget. 

3. Look for valuable lessons in everything that you do, hear, or experience.  No matter if what you are doing fails or succeeds, write down what you learned from it in your journal. 

   Every person you meet, every person you listen to, has a lesson you can learn.  I try to teach with each blog and marketing tip I create. ..just for you.  But the lessons you learn from them are up to you; the insights you gain are up to you.  Whatever the lessons/insights are, write them down in your journal before you forget. 

   I carry my journal with me always.

   With a large repository of ideas it’s easier for you to find ones that readily meet your budget. 

4. Read your” Lesson Journal”.  Find out what lessons you can apply today to your next project or problem.  Then do it.  Find a way to apply and use that lesson today.  Now record your results.

   As you consistently apply ideas and track the results, you will produce bigger and bigger results with whatever money you have budgeted.

5. Referrals are one of the most important tools you can use to grow your business.  There are probably hundreds of ways to generate referrals.  Two of them are: pay for them per lead; bribe people in a fun way. 

   If you haven’t done your job on making your clients happy, you shouldn’t ask for a referral. The key is to start writing down the ideas you get, and then start doing them.

   Referrals are the least expensive way to grow your business on a budget.

6. Barter. Learn how to barter.

   Attend your local networking events, look around at the people you work with that need what you have to offer and you need what they have to offer.  What types of products or services do they need to make their lives easier?  Where can you find those products or services?  Apply this principle to people you want to work with and by helping them they will help you.

   Bartering allows you to grow with a minimum of cash outlay.

7. Dare to do what no one else does.

   Giving yourself permission to do what hasn’t been done before allows you to find new inexpensive ways to grow.

8. Ask what you don’t want in life and in business. Then decide what you do want (What you want is the opposite of what you don’t want).
   

   Knowing what you want shortens the journey to getting there, and therefore also lessens the expense.

9. Get rid of the “box”.  Forget about inside or outside the box thinking.  Don’t put parameters around your thinking.
   

   This is a variation of no. 7 above.  By removing parameters from your thinking, creative ways to use your budget open up.

The key in all of this is to be systematic and consistent.  By systematically and consistently applying these ideas, you are sure to see compounded results.

Technorati Tags: barter, elevator pitch, grow business, growing a business, journaling, out of the box thinking, Referrals, stadium pitch, using a journal

I often talk about the Law of Reciprocity as an example of how you can build rapport with a prospect or customer.
 
Reciprocity works because most of us don’t like to feel obligated to someone else.   When someone gives us a gift, we want to reciprocate.  So when you give a gift to a prospect or customer, they will generally want to reciprocate by at least giving you their attention. And their attention is the first thing you need before you can build rapport that can eventually lead to a sale.

So what does this have to do with network group meetings?

A couple weeks ago, I spoke at a network group meeting.  One of the things I noticed is that the Law of Reciprocity is one of the most challenging aspects in a networking environment.  Why?  Probably because we learn quickly that participation in a networking group creates a sense of obligation to do business with, and to refer business to, fellow members. But it’s just another method of conducting business, so let’s do it the right way.

Here are some suggestions on being proactive when at a networking event.  I have found that if you ask the questions you want someone to ask you, you will be building trust and relationships.

So if you want someone to ask you a specific question, you ask it first.

Here are some examples of questions you could massage to fit your business and use.

1. Who is your target market?

2. What is your biggest challenge?

3. How do you generate most of your business?

4. What sets you apart from your competition?

5. How can I know if someone I’m talking to would be a great prospect for you?

This last question I feel is the best one to ask, as it is telling them that you are interested in referring business to them.

By doing this, they are likely to ask you the same question.
 
The next time you are at a networking event, use these questions and see what happens.

And if you have other questions that have worked well for you (as I’m sure you do), tell us about them in the Comment section below.

By the way, since we are talking about gifts, I have a standing gift for you…

If your business is B2B, you can take my 10 Marketing Mistakes book, add your personal message and logo to it (following some guidelines) and give it away as a gift to companies you do business with.  To see 3 ways you can use it to start building reciprocity, go to this link: www.kenvarga.com/report.php   Call my office if you have any questions.

Technorati Tags: law of reciprocity, network meetings, Networking, reciprocity

Which is more important?  Marketing or Selling?

Whenever I do a seminar, or when you look at the questions I receive from my subscribers, there most often is the question of what is more important, Selling or Marketing?

I receive statements such as, “I’ve been going to various seminars, reading many books, and as a result I’ve been collecting marketing ideas over the years.  I also have a stack of promising leads that I’ve accumulated over a period of time thru networking at my local Chamber of Commerce, Direct Mail, and Advertising.”

“I realize how important it is to continue networking, but then I create more and more leads.  How should I prioritize all of the leads and marketing ideas I’ve accumulated?”

Have you ever asked yourself this question?

If so, you might have lost sight of a very important truth.  The way to win in the marketing game is not to collect the most leads.  It’s to make the most sales.  Without sales, marketing is just another exercise.

Marketing that increases your number of sales is very good, and activities and things you do that don’t result in sales, aren’t good, even if they bring in plenty of leads. 

If you don’t follow up immediately on the leads you gather, you are just wasting your time and money.

The primary purpose of all marketing strategies like writing articles, networking, advertising, public speaking, etc., is to gain visibility and credibility.

Ask yourself this question. “Why do you want to be visible and credible?”

It’s not because you want people to know who you are and what you do.   It is so they will do business with you.

Use this rule.   Follow up on hot or even warm client leads immediately.  Customer leads are always more important than marketing for more visibility.  They result in profits.

When you have promising leads that could result in customers or clients that you aren’t contacting, then the follow-up stage is definitely stuck somewhere.  Gather your stack of leads and sort them into three categories.  Prospective clients, useful networking contacts, and others.

Then sort them into groups of Hot, Warm and Cold. Stop here and follow up with the Hot and Warm leads.

Action is the most important part of this exercise.  I see many individuals who sit on qualified leads and never turn them into sales. Don’t be one of them.

Technorati Tags: lead generation, marketing, selling

Whenever I go to a Chamber meeting or a networking function, I’m always astonished at the way individuals meet.  When I’ve gathered the business cards that were handed to me, they all looked alike and none of them jumped out at me.

The reason I’m writing about this, is that I just came back from a Chamber Networking meeting that was designed to put everyone in front of each other over an hour period of time.  You should have seen the “off to the races” scenario.  A bell rang every 30 seconds, so you only had 30 seconds to give your card and say something.

Everyone who gave me their business card told me their name and the company they worked for or owned.  None of them prepared an “Elevator Speech” to fit into 30 seconds. And, most importantly, none of them had their USP or Elevator Speech on the back of their business cards.

Look at your card and the cards you’ve gathering over the years.  Are any of them unique?  Do any of them motivate you to call them or to do business with them?

Within the hundreds I have accumulated over the years, they are all the same size.  Nothing is different about them.

Why not be creative. 

Let’s assume that you want your business perceived as being on the cutting edge.  What could you do? 

How about a business card that looks like a razor blade with your information on it and also your USP and/or Elevator Speech on the reverse side.

What could you do if you owned a restaurant?  How about an irregular card that looks like someone took a bite out of the corner?

For insurance agents, or really for anyone, create a free report.  You can get the facts on how to do this by reading a copy of ”How to Print Money Legally”.  You received a free copy if you recently bought my book, “How To Get Customers To Call, Buy & Beg For More”.  

Have the front of your card say the following:

FREE Report Reveals How You Can Protect
Your Family’s Dreams and Future.
(See back of card for details)
         Your Name
“Your Dream Protector”
ABC Insurance Agency
Address
Phone #

The back of the card could read something like this:

Dear Friend,
For many families, an unfortunate event, such as a fire,
earthquake, flood, hurricane accident, can wipe out
everything they now own…overnight!
Imagine losing your home, your car, your savings, your
business and having to start all over from scratch.
To help you protect yourself, your family’s dreams and
future against any unexpected disastrous event, ask for your FREE special report called “How to Protect Your Family’s Dreams and Future from Unfortunate Events.”

Call the 24 Hour Recorded Consumer
Awareness Hotline at 222-2222 Today.

Now, let me give you some more examples.

Here’s a message I created for an Accountant to put on the back of this business card. 

“How Much Money Would You Take Out of Your Business
If you Didn’t have to pay Tax on it?”

Or this one I created for my Loan Officers in the Banks I helped start.

“In the business of Friendly and Superior Banking Services
And Giving you Ideas on how you can Grow your Business
And Get more Customers.”

What do you think of that one?

With the next printing of my business card, here is what will be on the reverse side:

…helping businesses increase customer acquisition by up to 32.7% in as little as 3 to 6 months, and increase customer retention by up to 90%.

I’m sure that if you brainstorm long enough, you can come up with a unique design, for your business card, and make sure that your USP and/or elevator speech is included on the reverse side. 

And one more thing…make sure that when you hand the card to someone, it’s reversed where the back side is what they see immediately.

Technorati Tags: business card design, Business card marketing, designing a business card, marketing with business card

 This question applies to every business person even though it was asked by an insurance agent.

An elevator speech is a very short, concise oral summation of you, your company, your product, or whatever you’re trying to sell; that’s “sell” in the broadest possible sense.   

The purpose of an elevator speech is to capture the attention of whomever you’re talking to within fifteen seconds. It should be no more than 150 words, it should not waste a single one of those words, and it should not sound like a sales pitch. 

An elevator speech consists of three parts: the hook, the content, and the close. The hook and close are the most important, and the best elevator speech will include no more than a sentence for each one. Start with the hook, the beginning of the speech.

Elevator speeches must start with something that sounds compelling: a humorous comment, a statement that turns upside-down the listener’s normal perception of you or your industry, or a truthful and exciting description of what you do.  

This hook should be interactive – not “Hi, I’m Tom Smith, and I sell cars,” but rather, “Hi, I’m Tom Smith, and I’m paid to show my clients a good time every day.”  With an unusual statement like that, the other person is likely to ask: “What do you mean?”  Then you could explain that all day you get to see the pleasure on the faces of your clients as they come back from test driving a Ford Mustang (or whatever you sell).

 You should come up with something similar that would make the listener automatically say: “what do you mean?” or “how do you do that?”   

So for instance, as an insurance agent you can introduce yourself as “I’m a dream protector?”  The likely response to that is “what does that mean?”  This gives you an invitation to continue the conversation, and also makes the person receptive to what you have to say, since he/she is now curious.  When the person asks you “what do you mean?” you then proceed to give them a short example or two of how you protected a particular dream for someone.  

Keep the conversation focused on the dreams you protected and that will build interest. 

One way of looking at an elevator speech: it’s a pickup line for potential customers and contacts, something that makes them stop and think twice about passing you by. 

It’s critical that your elevator speech not sound contrived, or like a sales pitch. Instead, it should bring out your personality, and say things that you’d say anyway. If you’re having trouble with finding your hook, you can try the five-what’s technique, commonly used to break through writers’ block for fiction writers–ask yourself five times what you do, then answer it differently each time, as quickly as you can. Again, as an insurance example: 

I’m an insurance salesperson.

I protect people’s assets.

I protect people’s dreams.

I protect people’s families.

I keep people safe. 

As a matter of fact, keep asking yourself what you are and keep listing your answers until you come up with something that gives you the “Aha” feeling.  Come up with a couple different hooks you can test at your next network event. 

The hook is the most important part of your elevator speech, because it’s the thing that would foster a conversation.  Come up with a great hook and the other person has to ask you “what does that mean” or “how do you do that”.  The rest of the elevator speech flows from the hook.  As I mentioned above, the rest of the speech should be examples of how you have benefited others.  If you are new to your industry and have no personal stories yet, use examples or stories from your industry. 

As with all things I talk about, intent is most important.  The elevator speech is not intended to be used as a manipulation technique.  The purpose of the elevator speech is to bypass the listeners’ normal psychological defenses and allow them to HEAR you, so THEY can benefit from what you have to offer.  It is not so that you can get what you want. 

See, the funny thing is that when you help people get what they want, you automatically get what you want.  So just focus on speaking your message to help others and you’ll get what you need/want. 

Finally, you need a good, gripping close. Ideally, your close should be as short as, or shorter than, your hook, and it should contain both a call to action and prompt your listener to ask a question. 

The idea is that your elevator speech is a conversation opener. If it doesn’t get people talking to you at least half the time, you need to change it. 

You should change your message regularly anyway. This is partly because you start to sound stale delivering the same lines a thousand times, and partly because things that sound clever today may not sound so clever in six months. This also frees you up to be topical if you want, though of course political issues that your business doesn’t deal with directly should be avoided. 

So here’s another example of how an elevator speech for an insurance salesperson could go: 

You: I’m Gloria, and I make sure you don’t go bankrupt if those levees break again. Listener: What do you mean?

You: You would not believe some of the things I saw with the Katrina!

Listener: Like what?

You: (tell a short story that arouses interest or curiosity)

Listener: Wow! That’s interesting.

You: (Pause)

Listener: So how would you help me?

You: My company insures everything from motorcycles to warehouses and we would….. 

An excellent resource for being able to deliver a powerful 30-second message is Ann Convery’s Speak Your Business in 30 Seconds.  You can learn more about it at www.annconvery.com

Technorati Tags: Elevator Speech, Networking